


Tending Fruit

by inmytouch



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Cute Kids, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Mystery, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2018-01-07 08:37:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inmytouch/pseuds/inmytouch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki had her tricks, Thor has her trust...they both had her love. Even from beyond the grave, Frigga's influences effect Loki and with the proper friends and a focus that will require him to reevaluate who he is as a person...its bound to be an interesting adventure. This is the story about how Loki, Bruce, and Steve...have to work together to save the next generation. </p><p> </p><p>  <i>"By the blood of your mother you unintentionally spilled, by the lives of the many you thoughtlessly killed...I hold you to this oath. The fruit of my womb is yours to tend, to deny my request will be your end...til 18 years they each may see, your own life's bound to their well being."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Who do you think you are?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, here is the first chapter...it is set after the events of Thor 2 without going into tooo much detail so there's flexibility in creating this unique verse. Unfortunately, we do not get to meet the children very well until the upcoming chapters but we do get to see our boys meeting up and having interesting engagements. Also...I do not have a beta, so there may be some errors throughout the piece and I apologize for that. Please feel free to leave feedback, let me know you've read it!

This was not how things were supposed to go...no, in fact this is not how things were even possibly supposed to go. It started as a routine and quite...devious plan to visit earth in the guise of the man who lied about being his father for so long, bring chaos to the lands to forever sully the reputation of Asgard...awaken ancient beasts not recently known to man and then watch Midgard turn into a world burning forever in the flames of their own lies and deception...betrayed by the high and mighty people of Thor, forcing his brother to decide which side to take, be once more shunned by his home world of Asgard and then when all hope was lost...Loki would appear, fighting once more at his brother's side, to defend Midgard, and bring Asgard to its knees. A very simple, multi-step plan that was bound to succeed. Loki had not, however counted on his brother being far more intelligent than he gave him credit for. It was that Foster woman, no doubt, somehow her Midgardian science had been used to cast a spell on the God of Thunder to open his eyes, which had conveniently been left closed for so long.

It wasn't that long ago...no as he sat on that throne, looking down at his brother...listening behind the veil of his - no, Thor's father's glamour and bestowing upon him words of encouragement and benevolent acquiescence. Getting an annoying speck in his eye that caused it to water as his 'brother' spoke of his beloved 'Brother Loki' and the honor of his death...trying not to choke on the bile of self-denial that curdled in his throat as he considered this was the third time he'd seen Thor speak...favorably of his 'troubled' sibling. As he sat there and issued a blessing he knew his brother longed to hear but would never actually hear from the man who called himself their father...it never crossed his mind that his brother left in peace, would think about it, and also realize great Odin would never give such a blessing and that it was highly likely that his poor and recently deceased (again) brother was once more weaving another web of deception that would be used to snare those around him like innocent (highly debatable) flies. 

In his defense, Loki could've actually slain the old man in revenge but...looking up at him through the eyes of some hapless guard who just happened to 'follow' the brothers and 'find' a body...he found that despite his rage and loathing for the old king, Odin had earned the love and respect of Frigga, the woman who had been his mother. This was the only reason he spoke the words needed to ease the aging man into another one of his magical sleeps, concealed his golden casket from view and thanked the stars that Heimdall had not yet begun watching Odin's private chambers once more...thanks once again to Frigga being adamant about having at least THIS much privacy and that there were certain activities she'd partake in with her husband that even a great Guardian with Golden Eyes would NOT be privy to. The thought of which still turned Loki's stomach to this day. 

Regardless of the childhood nightmares of actually accidentally walking in on your godly parents imitating wild horses that would haunt even the strongest of men for many years (namely about 1003 years to be exact)...Loki's mind had been set. All the pieces were in place. He had raised the Lady Sif to a position rivaling Tyr's just to see the warmongering imbecile flinch, only to find out that Tyr knew of his deception but regardless swore to follow Loki if it meant humbling that 'thrice lightening damned little upstart'. Which of course is what Loki allowed him to believe, he could be disposed of or imprisoned in the future of course, it does little good to ally with the very child who's head you continuously pushed into the chamber pot until Thor began telling mother. He had mounted Sleipnir and with a host a thousand or so fresh faced warriors with shiny gold helmets at his back had requested that Heimdall send them to earth for a 'diplomatic' visit to Shield Headquarters. He would after all, be so good to see his son and further negotiations with Nick the Furious and the other Shield Brothers and Maidens that made up his own army. Once more, things should've been easy...Odin was after all so easily offended by the simplest of things, and Nick Fury was so infuriating that an irreconcilable conflict was certain to arise. 

With a FLASH, the journey to land on the deck of the monstrous yet almost embarrassingly vulnerable warship known as the 'helicarrier' was brief yet even more exciting due to the anticipation of the squabble yet to come. 

"Brother."

Loki felt the single eye of 'Odin's' face widen ever so slightly as the master of mischief cursed Jane Foster's influence on his brother's critical thinking skills, and no doubt Heimdall's all seeing gaze as he heard the deep, familiar, and heartbroken utterance of his name and found himself staring at Thor, A large contingent of black clad 'S.h.i.e.l.d' warriors including a glaring individual wielding a bow and arrow and...another with shocking red hair wielding two small projectile weapons, as well as Nick the Furious in all his one eyed glory holding a significantly larger projectile weapon not unlike the weapon wielded by the regrettably valiant Agent Coulson before he shoved a blade through his chest. 

That battle that ensued as a flurry of confusion as the Asgardian forces reacted instinctually to protect the illusion of their king, before swords were lowered at the thunderous shouting from his brother declaring 'Odin' to be an imposter, some rallying around Tyr upon his bellowing of just the opposite, and then Tyr making the grave error of swinging his sword at Thor even as Nick the Furious decided to fire upon the god of war, drawing the ire towards him instead. Loki let the illusion drop as his watched his brothers engage each other, engage others, and receive and deal damage in turn...all to the cacophony of blades clashing, hazardous whizzing about of lead projectiles and the flashing of energy based weaponry. The chaos was so thick it was palatable and as he turned to catch an arrow emitting an insistent beeping sound, turning it about and flicking it back at the determined looking archer like a dart he dove off the side of the helicarrier, closing his eyes as he heard the loud explosion aboard the ship and then submitted himself once more to the frightening yet freeing sensation of plummeting into the unknown. No, this was not how things were supposed to happen...at all.

The unknown happened to be a city known as Los Angeles. The City of Angels ironically enough, and he found himself falling just like an Angel cast out of a heaven that never existed...if one was to believe Midgardian religious folklore. The fall, was not lethal...his body impacting with the water as if he had been slammed into a plate of glass, but he found his way to shore and took off running knowing he'd be pursued, even if he could not see them...he knew they'd be there. For some reason, someone was always there. And that is how he found himself cornered in an Alley, dripping wet..and facing off with a pompous blonde with an illogical need to pontificate about morality at the oddest of times, but primarily before doing combat. It was not, however...his brother. His brother, with no sense of style, would not be caught dead in the attire the human before him wore.

"I'm a big believer in second chances and giving folks the chance to have something to say for themselves but you've proven yourself to be bad news Loki, and no matter what your brother may say...its time to change the channel. Last chance Loki, you're surrounded...surrender. There are lots of innocent people around here that could get hurt...so do the right thing for once. Your brother says there's good in you. I'm not so sure about that, but again...here's your chance. Surrender." Captain America held his shield at the read, watching the slender Asgardian with a soldier like focus on his mission. 

"Listen you self-righteous buffoon, it would bring me no joy or sorrow to see you naught but smear of red, white and blue against the wall, shield clattering against the pavement...to see your precious New York in flames to rival the deepest and most fiery pits of hell, and to see the flesh melt from the bones of all those caught in the cross fires of your foolish crusade to put a measure of righteous or evil worth on things you do not understand..." The words felt like poetry and the menace in his silky tone felt like the most intimate of whispers, breathy and warm against his skin...and Loki felt himself drowning in the familiar sensation, breathing quickening as he saw the look of disappointment, confusion, and then righteous yet slowly building fury upon the 'Captain's' face and he continued. "...this is how little your opinions, your chances, your news...your confusing platitudes about there being honor in surrender matter to me. So I apologize my dear Captain..." He spat out the honorific like an explicative. "...but I must decline your gracious offer."

An infuriatingly resigned expression and determined set of his jaw...was the only warning the slender god of mischief received before he barely ducked the shield tossed his way, looking above at where it was firmly imbedded in the wall. "So predictable..." He muttered before stumbling back a few feet at the spinning kick that caught him in the stomach before catching the foot with one and twisting violently to bring the American warrior's face and chest in direct contact with the concrete. The foot was released in the maneuver as Loki too the opportunity to draw his daggers, gripping one in each hand before slamming the heel of his boot into the face of Steve Rodgers as he attempted to turn over and turning on one heel to take off running. Leaving behind an illusion of himself that wouldn't fool the Captain for long. This was NOT how things were supposed to be going. 

Out of the alley and into...something akin to the stories of Ragnarok told to small children in little villages filled with ignorant peasants...gun shots, screams, the screech of tires and the sound of collisions both great and small. He ran past a pair of ruffians with using clubs to smash the windows of a small shop, and a glance behind him showed them exiting together carrying a large screened electronic device and he shook his head as he continued to run. He had brought the chaos to Midgard as he so wished but...it came in the form of police officers confusingly attacking the Asguardian forces sent to retrieve him and the forces attacking the police officers believing them to be protecting him and...his scathing assessment of the insanity of the situation all screeched to a halt as he quickly turned the corner onto a quieter street and abruptly stopped as standing before him was the eerily calm looking form of Bruce Banner. The deceptively fragile mask worn by the only Avenger who's very presence unsettled the mischievous 'villain' and he felt himself paling.

He would not let the creature see him fearful. He adjusted his posture and smoothed a be-daggered hand over his head before just staring at the caged beast approached him slowly, hands in his pockets and an almost wistfully weary expression causing his lips to curve in something between a smirk and a smile. He wore a loose fitted tunic of some sort and a pair of over sized trousers...perhaps in preparation for transforming.

"Hey." The man _greeted_ him as though they were simple passerbyers on the street or meeting unexpectedly and preparing to go share pint of ale.

Behind him...chaos and quite probably Captain America, before him...a beast in the form of a man...Loki began scanning the deserted street for the most logical of escape routes.

"I wouldn't run if I were you. The other guy...well it irritates the hell out of him. Makes him kinda antsy to chase." Bruce Banner spoke to him with a tremor in his voice that didn't quite match his calm demeanor. Giving a little smirk again.

"Well you are not me." Loki responded between gritted teeth, body tense and his grip adjusting on his daggers. 

Bruce just shrugged and ran his fingers through his thick dark hair and sighed softly. "No. I'm not. Just giving you a heads up. The other guy really doesn't like you."

There was a palatable silence, uncomfortable...hot...and smothering as Loki attempted to count the monster's every breath, to be prepared if it appeared to speed up, or any other changes became...more obvious. 

"You know man, I really am sorry about the whole...New York thing but to be honest. You were being kind of a dick."

Was he mocking him? How DARE he...or was he genuinely apologizing? Loki's brow furrowed as he just continued to stare. 

Rocking back on his heels, Bruce simply looked up at the sky and then looked back to Loki. "So! LA? Came to see anybody in particular or...did it just seem like a good place to fall?" 

"What are you doing?" Loki finally spat out, the question burned to much like a derisive criticism. "Have you come to put me in my place once more?" It had been humiliating. To be found, on his back...crawling from the earth like a injured mole with the merry band of Midgard's protectors staring down at him, weapons drawn. But it had also been a relief...for it to be finally over, the frustration seemed to fade with each slam of his body against the concrete, and he was left resigned and relieved...for soon it would be permanently over and he would not have to suffer the anxiety and conflict within. However, no power in all the realms could or would make him admit this to any other living soul. 

"Stalling you." The answer was frank and took Loki off guard and his head tilted as the beast continued. "Steve's a couple blocks down, the helicarrier's on route and the other Avengers are as well, but I was in town so Steve gave me a call told me to hold you up for a bit. Well really, he wanted the big guy but he's not really good at using cell phones, seeing as his finger is bigger than the keypad so..." 

"ENOUGH!" Loki finally exclaimed, quickly shaking his head and staring at the man as he was holding up a device known as a 'cell phone' and showing off the size of the 'keypad'. "I will NOT stand here to be ridiculed and mocked and I will not be captured once more by your band of merry fools willingly, so crush me if you must. Rip my head from my body and use my corpse to paint a warning to all others who dare threaten your world but do so quickly and SPARE me from this pretense of civility!" It was cruel, too cruel...to pretend nonchalance or even compassion when all you felt was hatred, anger and perhaps even pity for another person. "Well come on then! Do you require insults, goading, threats to bring forth the monster you really are?"

He watched as the man's breathing sped up, eyes closing and shoulders hunching and Bruce simply grit his teeth, concentrating on keeping his emotions in check. Loki felt his hand tremble slightly before he took a deep breath. "You pretend to be kind, compassionate...different from the beast within you but you are the beast, a witless and demonstrative wild animal. A creature so foul that it is used when it is convenient for your government but subsequently hunted by your own military because you cause destruction and chaos wherever you go! And you have the gal to judge _me_? I am the _god_ of Lies, I can tell when someone is not being true to themselves. For all my failings, there's one thing I have learned and accepted...I was raised and trained and born to be who I am. I am a monster. This is what I was made into, what they WANTED to be, and what I love being. A monster. I am LOKI, and I am a Monster!"

Bruce rubbed his hands over his face, grunting and clenching his fists as he focused on Loki, his brown eyes shifting to an unnatural shade of green that almost seemed to glow, yet he held on to simply ask. "Are you?"

An SUV turned sharply onto the street, barreling through a roadblock and skidding along as the front tires seemed to be blown out. A determined looked woman gripping the wheel and holding the gas down as the vehicle was pursued by...creatures of some sort, they were green and slimy and tentacles lashed out to wrap around the back of the vehicle, slowing it down as the teary eyed woman swore violently and lost control of the wheel, vehicle careening sharply and slamming into a parked car as the creature began to swarm and ooze over the truck.

Loki was quite distracted from the appearance of 'The Other Guy' as he sniffed the air. He could smell it, feel it, taste it...the feel of magic as a creature broke the glass of the windshield and reached into the front seat, only to be repelled by a shield of red light...the smell of burnt reptilian fresh filling the air. Curious...and he found himself running towards the truck before taking a few steps back and colliding with something very solid behind him, hands pressed against it and then cautiously feeling upward as he looked up into the green visage of the Beast, also referred to as the Hulk. "Oh bloody..." 

Then his body was snatched up and tossed towards the crashed vehicle, slamming into the side of the SUV and leaving a sizable dent, and squishing one of the reptilian beasts. He heard and then felt the corrosive nature of the slime on their skin as his breast plate began to be burnt through and he quickly unbuckled it weakly, hissing at the pain of the brief contact the slime had with his skin. Stumbling to his feet, he turned quickly, finding himself calling out. "Do not touch them, they are corrupted!" Flipping a dagger in his grip to spin around and slam the blade into the eye of one of the creatures, watching it slide off the roof of the vehicle a, revealing through the glass...a small child in a...bassinet of some sort, strapped in the back seat and screaming. He pressed a hand to the glass even as the small child did, watching the tears flow down her cheeks as her face seemed to be turning an alarming shade of red and he was quickly jerked back and out of the way as one of the green creatures lunged at him, only to collide with and be neatly sliced in two by a spinning red, white and blue shield. 

"What have you done?!" Steve shouted as he pushed dazed god out of the way, watching the Hulk use what used to be a light post to scrape the creatures off of the top of the truck with a mighty 'roar'. The big guy had tentacles wrapped around his ankles and wrists but mostly seemed to be ignoring the alien monsters' pitiful attacks. 

"You know Captain, your small minded view of what I'm capable of is quite hurtful. As if I'd choose such feeble of creatures to summon from the ether, and then allow them to attack me...I hate you too much for that. If it had been me, it would've been a dragon. By the way, there is a small child in the back of that vehicle." Loki replied sarcastically before concentrating and creating three duplicates of himself behind and on either side of the car, approaching the front door of the vehicle with care before startling as a loud cha-chink was followed by a BOOM and the passenger side door went flying, knocking away several alien creatures and tearing through the illusion.

"Was that a SHOTGUN?!" Steve's inquiry sounded incredulous as he raised his arm to catch his shield, the alien creatures mostly puddles of acidic slime and sliced, diced, shot, or ripped apart replitian corpses around the truck. 

The Hulk grunted and tossed the light post aside, lumbering towards the vehicle as the front door swung open and Loki found himself with the afore mentioned 'shotgun' angled at his chest. The woman behind the wheel looked young...eyes lavender and messy curly red hair prematurely greyed, darkness beneath her eyes speaking of many sleepless nights. Her hands shook slightly as she looked past Loki at Captain Rogers and then she cocked that gun once more with the alarming cha-chink that had previously preceded the BOOM when she caught sight of the hulk before she reached out suddenly and grabbed Loki's hand in a vice like grip, his dagger clattering to the ground as he winced, something pressed tightly between his palm and the woman's considerably smaller hand. 

"I know your face." She whispered softly, looking over her shoulder briefly at the child in the back...the screams having abated as the child seemed intently staring out towards the green monster just outside her window. "You made the earth shake and scream and you killed my husband." 

Loki bit his bottom lip before grimacing. "I'm sorry miss, but I've actually, if you can believe it, killed many people's husbands, you'll have to be more specific."

Her nails cut into the back of his hand, digging deeply like the claws of a wild cat as she gripped tighter, shot gun dropped and quickly kicked aside by the Captain.

"Ma'am, whatever crimes Loki has committed against you, I promise you he'll see justice...but we have to get you to a hospital. What's your name?" And there he went again, brave Captain American choosing now of all times to be chivalrous. Loki rolled his eyes and then frowned as the Hulk sniffed the air and seemed to frown.

"He fought to defend this world from your kind before...he failed, he fell..." The woman rasped out before gritting her teeth once more and half slithering/half sliding from the front seat and nearly collapsing as Loki dropped his other dagger and placed a supporting arm behind her back. "Your mother..."

Loki tensed as the woman's grip on his hand seemed to tighten and he, the Captain, and the Hulk's eyes all seemed to fall on the woman's swollen belly at the same time, a collective gasp (and grunt from the Hulk) drawn before she woman just giggled and gasped in her own pain. "Her highness, she speaks to me and tells me what to do..." The woman's eyes seemed glow before the object she held clasped between her own hand and Loki's seemed to heat up.

 _"By the blood of your mother you unintentionally spilled, by the lives of the many you thoughtlessly killed...I hold you to this oath. The fruit of my womb is yours to tend, to deny my request will be your end...til 18 years they each may see, your own life's bound to their well being."_ The voice coming from the young woman didn't seem to be her own, Loki's eyes misting up on their own as he shook his head quickly, Frigga...no, Frigga was dead. Her voice...

And that is when the searing pain began, shooting from the palm of his hand, up his arm and burning into his brain, he saw the rune in his mind before he could jerk his hand out of the weakened grasp of the pregnant woman, looking at his forearm as the black blood rune was inscribed there, matching the rune etched on the small square shaped piece of bone that fell from the woman's hand.

Steve and the Hulk stood there awkwardly, useless really, gaping and then moving quickly as the woman seemed to go limp in Loki's arms, breathing more ragged and body trembling...body wracked with tremors followed by screams.

"We need a doctor! Something's wrong!" Steve shouted, hands moving to press against his ear piece as he opened his mouth to report about the situation no doubt. "Captain here...we have an injured civilian, mid 20s...female..." Only to choke on his words as Loki lashed out with a free arm to hit the man in the knee, causing it to buckle.

"The woman is in labor." Loki muttered for clarification looked up into a pained green gaze as the Hulk leaned over to stare at the woman, guttural noises made in sympathy? It was hard to tell, his look just _daring_ Loki to make a wrong move. In the palm of his hand he seemed to cradle the small child from the backseat, who seemed to be made entirely of thick brown and black curly hair, and her bassinet, not having the dexterity to unstrap her. He quietly set the girl down in the seat and grunted at the small girl's curious poking at his arm.

The return of Bruce Banner, the mask was unexpected, the hulks grunts and hollers echoing the woman's labor cries before a shaky and shirtless tanned man with messy brown curls was left in place of the Beast and with one hand holding up his ripped pants...he knelt down beside the woman, looking to Loki before giving the instructions to help him move the woman to the sidewalk as he pushed up her skirts, ignore the uncomfortable squeak of protest from Captain behind them. 

"What are you doing?" Loki asked for the second time that evening, brows lifting as he cradled the woman's head in his lap, watching the Bruce creature with confusion.

"Your cloak." He requested. "And I need a sterilized knife...Steve! I need you to find a home, any home, get me some hot water." 

Loki found himself shrugging out of his cloak, draping it over an arm as he offered it to the focused man. He glanced briefly over to Captain America who frowned but jogged off to do as requested, having to kick down the door of a family home and sounding very apologetic about it somehow in the process and then to the distressed looking child in the bassinet and he whispered a soft incantation, sending the illusion of a small pink pig waddling towards the girl. Her mother's cries caused her own, but the pig was a welcomed distraction, so the child merely wept and choked on her own spit instead of screaming.

"Will this do?" Loki asked uncertainly, offering a dagger tugged from another part of his armor. "We have not the diseases on Asguard as you have here."

Bruce grunted and seemed to be concentrating on setting things up, like a midwife of some sort, taking the knife and setting it aside as well before taking a deep breath. He continued to give orders, clipped voice...strain in his tones. Expecting to be obeyed.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked more insistently. "Who do you think you are?" He felt a sneer coming on, but if faded as he stroke the brow of the woman who's screams seemed to grow louder.

The Beast looked up to just eye Loki for a moment. "I'm Bruce Banner, and I am a Doctor."

And to that...Loki for once, had no words.


	2. Will you surrender?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New characters are introduced, old friends are brought to the front...new life is brought into the world, and somebody talks about Loki's mama. Also, its usually a good idea to let Bruce Banner do his job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, WARNING folks, there's some death in the beginning of this chapter, not pretty and sorta angsty. I really have to get through these first few chapters to be able to properly get to the fun stuff. Again, no beta so I apologize for any spelling errors! Also, thank you for comments and kudos in the first chapter, I hope you all enjoy this one as well.

"Shield the child's eyes, this is no site for such a youngling." Loki found himself requesting, a catch in his throat as he felt the life force of the woman in his arms struggling to hold on long enough to give birth to new life. She'd exhausted herself beyond the point of screaming, the pain she felt must've been intolerable as the doctor informed them both grimly that...the infant was stuck and the woman had stopped pushing.

What had seemed like hours, were only a few minutes as it turned out and Captain America-no...Steve Rodgers sat on the ground, leaning against the crashed car, his shield propped up beside him and his arms wrapped around the small girl who sobbed with exhaustion and confusion and just holding her face to his chest. 

He could hear the ambulance and squad cars in the distance, but they all seemed like background noise...a faint murmur to pained gasps of the woman laying on tatters of what had been Bruce's shirt and her head resting in Loki's lap. Every intake of breath seemed to translate into a hot poker being dragged down his spine as a clawed hand simultaneously reached into his chest and squeezed his heart. He'd seen many things in war, he was a soldier after all. He had trouble sleeping due to some of the things he had seen but as he watched his team member, Bruce, up to elbows in blood and God only knew what else and his enemy/target, Loki, pale and brushing sweaty hair out of the dying woman's face with shaky hands...he doubted he'd ever sleep again.

"If she doesn't push the baby will suffocate." Bruce heard himself speaking the words aloud as he looked up to watch Loki's concerned gaze shift defensively to something more shielded. 

The squad cars and ambulances surrounded the crash site...Agents, Police Officers and paramedics all swarmed from various vehicles, weapons drawn, harsh words barked and demands shouted. Wrapped in a green cape, an infant girl flailed her arms and cried as she was cradled in the arms of an exhausted looking God of Mischief, a look of confused awe on his normally haughty features. Bruce had handed her over shakily after the...ties with her mother's corpse could be severed. He'd taken the time to smooth down the woman's skirt, and reach up to close her eyes. Steve just sat there, holding the older girl in his arms and staring, eyes wide and tears running down his cheeks. This was the scene that the 'rescuers' came upon.

"Put your HANDS UP! Get on the Ground!" Loki looked up from staring at the wrinkled little face with her closed eyes and pursed lips... the small body in his arms seemed too small and fragile to be real. This was humanity. He saw how frightened, proud and victorious weapon wielding officials dared to be. They had surrounded Loki. The mad god of mischief and lies was cornered. Oh, what tales would be told in their tavern tables. His top lip curled in a sneer.

"Oh dear..it seems I'm surrounded." He drawled with lowered lids, adjusting his hold on the bundle in his arms as paramedics rushed forward to check the corpse of the mother.

"Lower. The Guns." A rough voice instructed near Loki's right ear and he turned to see the Beast's mask standing there, one bloody hand holding up his pants and the other clenching and unclenching at his sides. "Unless you're trying to add killing of newborn baby to your mission report...this child needs medical attention and food, as soon as possible."

Then from his left, a voice startled him once more as Captain America himself stood there with a toddler in resting comfortably on his left hip and his shield worn on his right arm at the ready. "Loki has surrendered himself into S.h.i.e.l.d custody. 

"I have _what_?" Loki had to ask incredulously, adjusting once more his grip on the baby and taking a step forward, only to be firmly pushed back by The Beast. Then he opened his mouth and then shut it quickly, trying to rock the crying infant in his arms. It was like listening to a kitten be strangled, such feeble yet desperate cries.

"The children are not to be harmed and are in need medical care. The prisoner will be escorted directly to the helicopter, he is highly dangerous so no one is to speak with him until they receive clearance from Director Fury." Even with thick bunches of soft dark hair fluffing up from the girl's head to get in his mouth, there was an edge to the Captain's tone that brooked no argument. "Loki Laufeyson, will you come quietly and peacefully?"

A look into the hazel, dazed, and tear reddened eyes of the toddler clinging to the good Captain's shoulder and then a glance down to the infant in his arms, Loki took a deep breath, shivering as he heard the hitchy little breaths from the oldest child and then the weak cries of the babe and...he just closed his eyes, turning to gently transfer the wrapped up baby into Bruce's waiting arms. He opened his eyes to glance to his right and then left quickly, meeting the relieved and pleading eyes of the other two men who had witnessed the recent horror and he rolled his eyes, holding his hands up and taking a step back. 

"I Loki Laufeyson, do hereby surrender...and please take note of the date and time for these are words you will never hear me utter again. Also, if any harm comes to either of these children...no power in all the nine realms will save you from my wrath." And then the cuffs came out.

* * *

"Your brother tells me you were always the smarter of the two, better as planning and being logical, a...and I quote, brilliant strategist who's penchant for mischief made him unpredictably cunning."

Loki sat at the desk, the cold metal of the table seeping through the thin grey material of the clothing they had given him to wear as he rested his arms there, wrists weighed down by the cuffs they'd secured him with. There were chains as well, connecting the cuffs around his wrists to the table and the manacles around his ankles to the chair he occupied as he sat across from a rather smarmy looking Nick the Furious. He kept his head bowed, hearing the man's voice like irritating background noise as the cries of the newborn baby he hadn't seen for hours now, and for all the time he could hear her. Incessant cries, ringing through his head, pulling at heart strings the thought had been severed years ago. His dark hair was still damp from the decontamination shower they'd forced upon him, and it fell long and limp down his back and into his face, serving as a veil...a physical manifestation of his pitiful attempt to ignore the man sitting across from him and he said nothing.

"So you, the brilliant one in the family...after an embarrassing as hell failure to take over the earth, goes to jail, fakes your death, impersonates and possibly kills your daddy, and then returns back to Earth...to try to take it over again?" There was a derisive laugh, a sound of exasperation and disbelief from his interrogator. "Then your brother must be stupid as hell, I'm talking about one dumb son of a bitch..."

Only then did he speak. "Take care how you speak of my mother, Director Fury." He lifted his head slightly, dark strands of hair still falling into his eyes. A hint of silky menace in his otherwise even tones. 

"Frigga, deceased...mother of Thor and wife of Odin and...oh look a here, according to our files, she weren't your mama afterall. So why does it piss you off so much hunh? You don't seem to mind insults about Odin, you even in your last interview really loudly declared that the King of Asgard was not your father." Nick Fury asked testingly. He wasn't a big fan of talking about anybody's mother, but he made a mental note in the long list of emotional triggers for the supposed 'god' sitting across from him. Apparently a mama's boy...it was kinda sad. 

"We may not have been born from the same womb but we nursed at the same tit and were held in the same arms of a woman who's worth cannot be quantified by any unit of measurement your puny world is aware of. You are not worthy to even utter the name of that woman." The Mama's boy replied slowly.

"Your mama breastfed you both? I know according to our files you are at least 2 years younger than your brother..." Nick Fury's brow began to furrow.

"Actually Thor was nursed until he was about 5 or 6 and mother couldn't keep visiting healers to ask for a soothing balm." Loki recalled musedly...before quickly coughing and shaking his head.

The Director held up his hands defensively. "Do I even want to know?"

"No, but by all means please continue talking about my brother's apparent stupidity. I've been telling him he needs to get that looked at for decades." Loki tsked softly, a mockery of a disappointment that never existed. 

Fury could've sworn he heard crickets in the awkward silence that followed, and he folded his arms over his chest and just quirked the eyebrow over his eyepatch. 

"Lets talk about yours instead." He suggested with a smirk, his eyes never leaving the chained 'god'. 

"I am afraid you'd find the conversation quite dull, director, for my stupidity exists only in the minds of those too imbecilic to recognize true brilliance."

"You know you are by far one of the most egotistical, smartassed, volatile little pricks I have ever met. Do you have any-" Fury found himself cut off by the pale god of mischief. 

"Ah...slight correction there, Fury but aren't those also the attributes of your beloved Iron Man?"

"Yes, and he gets on my nerves too." Nick Fury replied rather matter of factly. 

"Then is it not hypocritical that you use those adjectives to describe why I am unacceptable to you as a person, yet when used for Iron Man they are used as justifications for his rash behavior? I mean seeing as we both, as you put it...get on your nerves?" Loki asked with a saccharine sarcasm disguised as an earnest inquiry.

Nick Fury just gave the prisoner a look and unfolded his arms. "Let me explain something to you Loki. Tony Stark may be an egotistical, smarmy, dumb faced, nosy pain in my ass with tendencies leaning more towards being a vigilante than a team player...but he has never tried to take over my planet not once...but twice, directly and indirectly cost me the lives of many many good agents, and wrack up a collateral damage and rebuilding bill that has caused other government agency directors to take S.H.I.E.L.D off their yearly Christmas card list."

"Iron Man causes collateral damage as well...I am very sure of it." Loki interrupted wryly.

"Yes, but his rich ass can afford to foot some of that bill. Is there a check comin' from your royal trust fund or personal coffers that reads 'To S.h.i.e.l.d' and 'From the symbol formally known as a Prince of Asgard'?" Nick waited for the prisoner to respond and in the silence he continued. "I didn't think so. So, the difference between you and Tony effing Stark is that he gets on my nerves. _You_ on the other hand? You get on my _damn_ nerves." 

He punctuated each category of nerves with a gesture of both hands, gesturing at one corner of the table and then the other. Loki would normally be vaguely amused by the Director's antics but he could still hear the crying, echoed by the childish screams of a confused young child and he flinched, struggling against his chains.

"Alright, it seems we understand each other. Now, let me start again...what the hell were you thinking?" Nick Fury flipped the file in front of him back open and glowered.

* * *

"This is not a neonatal care facility. The baby needs to be in ICU at least, right now, so tests can be run. Traumatic birth can cause serious health issues and the toddler needs to be given something to help her rest." Bruce Banner gave instructions to the medical staff on board the Helicarrier, pausing as the nurses and doctors just eyed him warily and edged around him as though he was The Other Guy, but besides that seemed to ignore him. Placing the little curly haired toddler on a cot next to a smaller cot where they had cleaned and laid the newborn infant. They were technically under 'quarantine' and their cries echoed in his head, magnified even more as he was told for the 4th time to vacate the premises and let the doctors do their job. The girls could've been alien after all, and needed to be tested to make sure they were...after all just children. Loki's assistance in the delivery of the baby and willingness to submit to Shield custody, yet again...made Agent Maria Hill suspicious and so...despite the protests of both Bruce Banner and Captain American himself, they were sitting in the medical examination room, lost...scared and crying. Always crying. 

"They are just kids for petes sake!" Steve at least seemed indignant at the treatment of the children, he'd even mildly scolded the agents who stripped Loki of his clothing roughly and pushed him into the decontamination showers a gunpoint a couple hours ago. Something about dignity and treatment of prisoners.

But for now Steve and Bruce sat on the other side of a glass window, watching...wincing and protesting.

Then...an angel appeared from the west. Well, it was actually a leather clad red head with flattering curves and a deceptive vulnerability about her that didn't match the look of 'I could kill you with my pinky' that always seemed to be hiding right behind her shuttered gaze. 

"Agent Hill." Natasha began softly, glancing at the two men...taking note of Doctor Banner's strained expression and controlling her alarm by focusing on the slender brunette who stood near the entrance to the medical lab, arms folded. "I am hearing reports that....guests are being mistreated?"

"Negative...Widow. It was necessary for the security of the helicarrier to keep all potential alien threats contained until they can be further analyzed." Maria Hill was a good agent. She always did her job. But she had a disgusting loyalty not to the director or her fellow agents but to S.H.I.E.L.D. itself. 

"Doctor Banner was the doctor who delivered the infant, am I correct?" Romanov asked.

"Yes, Agent." Was the curt response.

"And yet his requests, feedback, and suggestions are being ignored?" Natasha approached the woman slowly, looking down and idly railing her finger tips against the edge of the glass window, and raising her eyes to watch the various technicians in the medical lab through lowered lashes. 

"Until we are sure the children are not known or unknowing pawns, deceptions, weapons or any other potentially dangerous alien threats, the situation must remain contained until it can be further analyzed." Agent Hill's jaw set as she watched the specialist with narrowed eyes. "And I have 100 percent clearance in how I am handling this matter, Agent Romanov, so thank you for your concern but we have this covered."

Natasha glanced over to where Bruce had a hand pressed against the wall next to the window, taking deep breaths and mouthing explicative laden comments at the doctors behind the glass, at one point turning away and running his fingers roughly through his hair with an exasperated shout as a nurse approached the youngest girl with a syringe. She watched as Steve simultaneously glared at the window, managed to look distraught, and then have the hand he tried to lay on Doctor Banner's shoulder in support shrugged off.

Then she looked back to Agent Hill. "So you will take full responsibility when the Hulk is released while the helicarrier is in the air? I remember this happening before...didn't end too well." She offered a small half smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"If Doctor Banner seems to be on the verge of losing control, we are not stupid, we have taken measures to contain him as well if need be. Romanov. Was there something you wanted?" Maria unfolded and then refolded her arms, resolute in her stance.

"Yes. I want you to allow Doctor Banner to oversee the children's medical care for the time being." Natasha crossed her arms to mirror Hill's pose.

"With all due respect, Doctor Banner has a PH.D not an MD in pediatric medicine." Hill dropped a hand to rest on her hip.

"Yes, but his expertise in multiple scientific fields includes biology and are you really going to argue semantics with me when the saftey of this ship is in jeapordy? That would make you a threat as well wouldn't it?" Black Widow just drawled with a hint of faux amusement, sarcasm edging her inquiry.

"What I am doing is guaranteeing the safety of this ship right now. We already have an Asgardian supervillain on board, and now two potentially unknown threats - " She was cut off by Doctor Banner's speaking up. "THEY ARE HUMAN YOU HEARTLESS IDIOT!" And she startled slightly, hand moving to the pistol at her hip before shaking her head quickly. "Doctor Banner, I'm going to have to have you escorted to a secure holding cell. Its my job to contain any and all potential threats. And I will do my job." She gestured towards two Agents to approach the doctor, frowning when Captain Rogers stepped in front of his team mate protectively.

Natasha Romanov simply perched on the edge of the desk, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands as she leveled a stare at Agent Hill, eyebrow raising ever so slightly. "Ahh, but it is my job to _eliminate_ any and all potential threats. Would you like me to do my job?"

Doctor Banner was allowed to oversee the medical care of the children.


	3. Interlude: Always So Perceptive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a brief interlude scene between...two very unlikely characters and it takes place right after Loki has been interrogated and Bruce has been given permission to take care of the children. Nick Fury finds out what could be at stake from the most unlikely of sources.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this involves some hinting to both Marvel Canon and Norse Mythology based stories. No Real warnings unless you HAVE NOT seen Thor 2! But if you've read chapter one and two then you've probably already picked up on clues about Frigga's state there. So...enjoy a tiny bit of back story here. We're almost off the ship, I promise you.

Nick Fury had paperwork to complete. He had spent 2 hours interrogating Loki...got no where, listened distractedly to some complaints from Agent Hill, before retiring to his office to handle paperwork.

He opened his eyes in a place like any other. Something straight out of version of Lord of the Rings, complete with ancient looking trees...moss on the ground and flowers blooming in the strangest locations. For some reason the word 'grove' came to mind for some reason but Fury was more concerned with why he was where he was and not so much where. His hand moves reflexively to his side where his pistol normally would be, but nothing was there and he turned in a circle, slowly, taking in his surroundings, body tense and his posture defensive.

Moss beneath his bare feet, no sky above only the faintest light peeking through the tangled branches of the trees behind he realized the oddest thing about being in what seemed to be a weird magical fantasy grove place was that there were no sounds. Around him, only silence. Now he knew he hadn't taken any pain or headache medications, and he didn't quite remember falling asleep when he went to his office.

"It gets to you doesn't it? The Quiet?" A kindly feminine voice disturbed the silence, startling the director and causing him to turn quickly in the direction of the voice and blink, because he was certain what he was seeing now wasn't there before.

She sat, at a table made from a tree stump...knees tucked under her and the long skirts of her sky blue colored robe pooling around her. She had white hair, streaked with strands of blond that was pulled back out of her face in a stately updo and secured by silver circlets and she watched the Director with deep blue eyes. Eyes that were old, and had seen many years and yet had not lost the spark of hope and acceptance that are usually lost with old age. She did not look far past 40 or so years, however, which was almost disconcerting to Nick Fury as he frowned, opening his mouth to respond.

"Please, have a seat. I've been watching you Director, I know you could use some rest." Whatever he was planning to say was quickly cut off by the woman's gentle invitation.

"Who the he-" Fury hesitated for a moment to consider how to phrase the question.

"Frigga." She replied to the unasked question, gesturing towards the stump. "We have much to discuss, and very little time, so please sit Director." Frigga waved a hand over the stump and two silver goblets appeared on the surface before a silver pitcher materialized in her hands.

"Lady. I'm probably hallucinating or dreaming right now, but even if I wasn't I am pretty sure all reports we received about 'Frigga' declared her dead, so I am probably dreaming, and if this is my damn dream, I am going to stay standing and concentrate on waking up. Hallucination, psychic attack...gotta rule something out, cuz something ain't right here and I ain't got time to play tea party with you, your _highness_..." 

"Oh, I am quite dead, and you are dreaming in a way. You may stay standing if you so wish, this is not the first time a man with one eye has rejected my invitation for rest and a drink." Frigga smiled gently to herself, setting the pitcher down and wrapping slender fingers around the bowl of her own goblet. "In fact, you remind me of him...a bit, Odin." Her lips twisted in a wistful smile.

As the Director of Shield, there weren't many things that unsettled Nick Fury. He'd been fighting and seeing weird things before he became Director, and even more afterwards. He had talked to aliens, 'gods', monsters and all manner of men. But this was a first, talking to an illusion of a dead Queen. "How are you doing this Lady?" He had to ask bluntly.

"Ahh, yes...so much like Odin. He too was an ass." The Queen replied softly, smirking a bit at Fury's barely restrained splutter. She took a sip of her drink and bit her bottom lip before setting the cup down. "I do not have much time, and explaining the mechanics of the magics used to project such an illusion would be futile seeing as a Midgardian leader you haven't much knowledge of Asgardian ways." 

Again, as the Director of Shield, Nick Fury had been called many many things. In fact, he'd been called almost everything possible but a child of God, and he was used to it. But he could honestly say, he'd never been called an ass by a Queen's ghost or illusion or haint or whatever she was. He simply folded his arms over his chest, trying his best not to wonder why he just noticed he was dressed in some type of black ankle length shirt-dress. 

"My children, will be the death of me." She started out slowly, a brief glance of amusement given to Fury at his snort. "Wrong choice of words I suppose, seeing as technically in many ways they already have been." She waved her free hand, fingers used like paintbrushes coating in a glittering silver paint as she drew a tree in the air and lowered her hand, letting it hang and shimmer there. "The universe is so very great..." With a flick of her wrist the tree exploded into a cloud of twinkling lights that Fury recognized as a solar system. "And yet, we are so small in the scheme of what has been, what is and what will be..."

"Lady...I swear to God if you start talkin' about looking into a fountain..." The dark skinned man began with a hint of incredulity, eyes narrowing. The Queen just stared blankly and he nodded a bit. "Nevermind, just get to the point. Like you said, we ain't got all day."

Frigga just sighed softly, lowering her gaze. "You speak truth child, we haven't as you put it 'got all day'. Loki doesn't know how to be a father. And you can wipe that smirk off your face and swallow the acerbic words I am sure you are prepared to say right now, child, and listen." 

"Laufey, left him to die and Odin, for all his attempts, managed to teach him how to be a warmongerer. One who seeks conquest, rule, and power... There's a phrase I've heard from Midgardians that sums it up nicely..." She trailed off for a moment, tapping a finger against her chin before nodding. "Oh yes, 'might is right'. In his advanced years, Odin's learned from his mistakes but the lessons it cost him...so far only Thor has been humbled enough to learn on his own what his father could not teach. Loki however...learned nothing of nurturing and raising from a male role model, and he when he has his children, will teach them to be the same." 

Nick Fury squinted and did his best to follow along, idly glancing at his wrist and the watch that wasn't there. He was pretty sure it was rude to be impatient when a Queen, no scratch that...a 'Goddess' was hijacking your subconscious to tell you why her children were screwed up...but on the other hand, nobody asked her to get up in his head in the first place.

"He will have three children, and they will all be responsible for the bringing about Ragnarok, the end of life...the nine realms as you know it. Millions will die, the Midgard will burn and the careful balance between the branches of Yggdrasil will be no more." 

The man's brow furrowed as he straightened up a bit. "Excuse me?"

"The hatred, fear, and rejection that he holds close to his heart, that poisons him slowly will be bred into his offspring. Because while he has known a mother's love...he has embraced his father's rejection. He knows not how to love as a father." Frigga's image seemed to flicker a bit and she took a deep breath.

"So you're telling me that Loki ending up a baby daddy is going to mean the end of the world? Keep him from reproducing, keep the Ragnarok from taking place." Fury was already filing away information, frowning as he went through the mental list of S.H.I.E.L.D prisons that might be capable of holding Loki indefinitely.

"No, Director Fury. I have looked and I have seen, that your prisons will not hold him...indefinately. He will be released and his children will be the end of you all."

"Not if we chop off his..." Nick muttered under his breath before swallowing what would've been a crude reference to the god of mischief's genitals. "Why are you telling me this your maje-highness? Ma'am? You're saying there's no way to stop the end of the world?" Fury's frustration trembled barely controlled behind his questions.

Frigga gracefully arose to her feet, smoothing down her gown and moving towards Fury, feet bare and leaving behind silvery footprints on the grass. "I am telling you this, because there is one way perhaps that could save your world...and Loki from leaving behind a legacy of destroying it." She held out a hand towards the tall man.

A larger dark hand took the significantly smaller hand of the old Queen gently, uncertainly as he waited with a raised eyebrow..

"You must let him learn, how to love as a Father. The girls, the children...a very old magic has been worked between the futures of the children, my son...and two other companions. Its uncertain, and not set in stone but the rune has been burnt, he will learn to love...or he will learn what true hatred is and destroy himself...and well ultimately many others around him as well." Frigga's lips were set in a grim line, her expression serious. "But it is not just Loki I am concerned about Director, I love my son even though he was not born from my womb, as I love you and many others. He is but a pawn in this...and the decision is ultimately yours to make."

"You're telling me the key to saving the world is letting Loki raise some orphans." Fury had to ask, jaw setting as he neared the edge of his tolerance. "You have got to be kiddin-"

"LISTEN to me Director. Others who can see, others who crave chaos know that the death, destruction or neglect of those children will bring about the end of days more swiftly...they will not be safe. You have been given the keys, the tools, the weapons...so to speak to delay and/or prevent an oncoming storm." The image of the Queen seemed to flicker even more and she took a step back, glancing over her shoulder as the grove began to fade away. She looked back to the Director, hand slipping from his own. "You've grown into such a wise and brave warrior, Nicholas Joseph Fury, and have seen many battles. Do not let what you've learned blind you from the lessons you've yet to learn in the battle yet to come." There was a pause as her image grew even fainter. "Tell him...that he is still always so perceptive about everyone but himself. And that-"

With a violent jerk, Nicholas Fury awoke, raising his head from his desk and looking around at the familiar surroundings of his office, rubbing his hands over his face before looking down to the file before him. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eye, taking a deep breath and shaking his head as he stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. "My _damn_ nerves..."


	4. What's in a name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick Fury makes a choice, Loki doesn't believe him, the girls get names and Bruce and Steve get to know each other better...just not exactly in that order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I have two more chapters before the focus will just be on the girls and the Guys, but here's the chapter where things start to move forward. No warnings really, and I apologize for the delay. Remember to comment, feedback helps give me ideas! Like for better names for the girls!

"What do you think her name is?" Steve Rogers asked bemusedly as he sat at a table, idly bouncing a groggy yet inquisitive little 2 year old on his lap. Her hair was still the birdsnest explosion that it was when she was discovered, but she'd been cleaned up a bit. Had sat still and let Bruce bandage up her arms and was currently wearing an oversize t-shirt and something called a 'pull up' seeing as they didn't really keep baby clothing on the Helicarrier. 

There was a noncommittal shrug from the Doctor who sat slumped over at another table in the private exam room, squinting through a microscope at something that had swabbed from the infant's mouth before putting in a tiny feeding tube, seeing as she hadn't been eating. And still she managed to lay in her little plastic...bubble cradle thing (ICU unit Bruce had told Steve) crying softly, even though it was muffled significantly by now. "Dunno."

There was a tiny finger up his nose and another clammy hand patting his cheek where a hint of stubble was growing in as the small girl managed to squirm around in his lap and reach into his face, to try to balance and get to her feet. The infant's crying was so soft, but it just seemed to echo loudly in his head, the little girl was a welcomed distraction from the migraine he felt forming. "Do you think we should name her?" The question was wheezed a bit on the tail end as a tiny foot found its way into the wrong part of his lap and he gently lifted the girl off his lap, holding her up in the air.

"S'not a pet, Steve." Bruce sounded on edge. He slammed a fist against the desk with a growled 'Damnit' and shoved the microscope aside as he rubbed his hands over his face. A glance over to Steve revealed a concerned looking super soldier wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of shield issue BDU bottoms and holding the yet nameless toddler closer to his chest. "Sorry...sorry just..." He raised a hand in a placating motion. "I'm alright. Just trying to identify the bacterial strains and...just, trying to rule shit out man. She just keeps crying." He bowed his head, hand resting on the back of his head and fingers tangling in his curls as he flashed back to the infant's birth. The red. The screams. The blood. The screams. The faint cries. The red.

They'd been moved to this private exam room about an hour ago with the tiny ICU unit and a few diapers. Apparently, Shield was still busy maintaining order down below. They wouldn't say it, but they were afraid Bruce and Captain America may have somehow been compromised and S.H.I.E.L.D _never_ took chances. Except you know, ever having him on board the Helicarrier, that was always a chance. He rubbed his forehead and then removed his glasses, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Its getting to me too, Doctor Banner. But we have to keep our heads." And there was that voice that rallied troops, it was his 'chin up soldier' voice. It almost made Bruce snort and laugh, but that would've hurt his head. Steve somehow found himself leaning forward in his chair as the little girl had climbed over his shoulder and was currently half attached to his back with his feet waving in the air and her t-shirt riding up alarmingly. "Whoa there little missy." He quickly tugged her t-shirt back down. "And I know she's not a pet just we can't keep calling them ya know 'the girl' and 'the baby'." And then he quickly tugged her t-shirt back down. "Its just not right."

"Heh. Right." Bruce had to laugh throatily at that, the sound filled with exasperation as he shook his head and tugged at his own hair. "Right...I don't think anything in the last 24 hours has been anything close to right. Heh... _right_." He smirked and raised his head to glance back over to where Steve sat. 

The little girl squirmed back down into Steve's lap with a shriek, her tanned face started to turn an alarming shade of red as she took a deep breath and then promptly slumped over in his arms, mouth dropping open as she gurgled softly. "Doctor Banner!" Steve's panic was evident as he stared at the girl in his arms. 

"Relax Steve, she's just...sleeping." The Doctor paused for a moment. "And drooling on your arm." He gave a strained smile and slipped his glasses back on.

"Oh thank God." Steve looked down to the tiny girl in his arms, drooling on his bicep with a tiny hand fisted in his t-shirt and he swallowed. "Thank God..."

There was a soft snort from the workbench, but...no argument from the doctor as he went back to work.

* * *

The door to his cell swung open and Loki rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, resting his hands on his stomach and doing his best to look as relaxed and unconcerned as possible, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"What shall we discuss next, Director?" He turned his head to eye Nick the Furious. "I have come to enjoy our conversations ever so much." He drawled sarcastically.

"Take the kids and leave. You will be escorted to the ground by Captain Steve Rogers and Doctor Bruce Banner and they will be keeping an eye on you. If you step as much as a millimeter of a toe out of line, they will notify S.h.i.e.l.d. immediately." Director Fury had given it alot of thought, and now he stood at the entrance of the cell of one of Shield's most dangerous prisoners, hand clasped behind his back and pretty much gave him a get out of jail free card. It made no sense. No kinda sense.

"I apologize, dear Director but...are you letting me go?" This was not what Loki had been expecting, far from it unless it was another pitiful attempt to manipulate him using the 'go free' technique that had gone out of style years ago in prison interrogations. So he waited for the other shoe to drop, sitting up on his cot now and eyeing the Director with interest.

"Don't be stupid, according to S.H.I.E.L.D records you're in our custody, being held for multiple crimes against the planet Earth. Odin as agreed to this arrangement, for the time being. Thor has protested, but even he and the other Avengers do not have the clearance to know of your whereabouts. You are to have NO contact with any S.h.i.e.l.d agents or affiliates while you in this secret custody. S.H.I.E.L.D. won't even officially know where you will be stationed. You'll be provided with needed documentation, and besides that Rogers and Banner will be on their own." The Director gestured for the agent with him to enter the cell, gesturing towards Loki. 

Loki was in a bit of a daze as he was handed a simple sack, known as a duffel bag, of supplies and what was referred to as 'toiletries' and the door to his cell swung open. As he took a tentative step towards the exit, holding out his shackled wrists experimentally and the Director simply unlock cuffs with a special code and then slapped a thin, cold silver cuff on his right wrist. "This is known as a S.I, also referred to as a Strange Inhibitor. We have a...consultant of sorts, who specializes in controlling and dealing with magical threats. He hates our guts but apparently your antics destroyed his favorite coffee shop during your attack on New York. Because of this, he's given us this...it will turn your own use of magic against you. Apparently its inhumane to inhibit your magical energies, but this will seriously discourage any usage of them. It'll also trigger an alert at our headquarters. So to sum it up, watch your ass." 

The god of mischief flexed his hand, wiggling his fingers and then wincing as a sharp pain shot up his arm and his throat felt as though it was closing up on him and he doubled over, gasping for air and closing his eyes.

"We have reevaluated that boot and ant crap. Magic Wielding Maniac, Magic Taser. Get the hell off my ship." Nick Fury stepped aside and gestured towards the exit...no guards, no escorts just an empty hall leading to freedom and with every step he took, the crying in his head seemed to grow softer. But he had to pause, hugging his rough sack to his chest and narrowing his eyes. "Why?" 

The Director sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Because, I had a dream...and sadly it wasn't in the form of an iconic speech...just a beautiful woman, with a dangerous look of 'I am a mama, and I will beat you down if you don't listen to me' on her weary features...and she told me to tell you that uh you are still always so perceptive about everyone but yourself."

There was a pause as Loki stood there frowning and glaring in disbelief, lips pressed together tightly and Fury continued. "Then proceeded to inform me that keeping you from fulfilling that weird tattooed oath thing would cause the world to basically implode, so! Get the hell off my boat." And he watched as Loki's lips twisted in something akin to a smirk and then the skinny god bowed almost mockingly before spinning gracefully and heading down the hall.

* * *

The moment they had placed the baby in Loki's arms, as he entered ever so dramatically an hour or so ago, she had stopped crying. It had been the same when Doctor Banner has held her in his arms...the crying would stop unless they put her down. There had even been a brief moment of amusement as they took turns cradling the baby as Steve Rogers looked on with bewilderment. Like playing a game of hot potato that only they knew the rules of, even as Bruce and Steve were busy protesting as they were lowered in a boat off the side of the Helicarier. It was...a cold type of chaos. No one person certain of anything except for their own certainty and that was even questionable. They would be set adrift, and a passing passenger ship should've been arriving within the next 30 minutes that they could flag down. And from there...it was up to Bruce to select a final destination, seeing as Steve and Loki weren't as familiar with places in the world to try to hide away from most people. Or really any places in the world. Yes. They were on a boat.

Loki sat wearing a pair of baggy BDU bottoms and a light green t-shirt tucked into place, much like Captain America who was forced to leave his suit packed away but also wore the dark blue BDU bottoms but his t-shirt was more fitted. The former god of mischief cradled a small baby in his arms, swaddled in a soft grey blanket and the t-shirt wearing toddler found a place settled on the floor of the boat, leaning back against Steve's legs as Bruce in a pair of nondescript black slacks and an ill fitted white button down held a map up, trying to figure out their current coordinates.

"Lucy." Steve finally spoke up, breaking the silence after idly combing his fingers through the toddler's thick curls, watching Loki idly rock the baby in his arms as he seemed to be glaring at Bruce for some reason.

"Hunh?" Bruce lowered the map for a moment, brow furrowing as he used a red pencil to mark something on the unfolded piece of paper. The boat rocked at the simple motion, as small motorboats were wont to do.

"A name, for um, the baby." The blonde ducked his head almost sheepishly as the other two men just stared at him for a moment. "I-I mean, its like...a little bit of you and a little bit of you, both kinda, I don't know. It fits."

Loki looked away for a moment before looking back down at the baby in his arms. "Lucy..." The name was foreign to his tongue yet it seemed to fit. "Very well then, Lucy...and for the other?" He glanced over to the toddler who was idly rubbing something into the material of Steve's pants around his left knee. 

Bruce sighed and folded the map in half as he looked between Loki and Steve for a moment. "Stella? Constelation-Iunno, I'm not really good at the whole, naming thing...."

"Stella." Loki grimaced at the pronunciation of the name and then blinked as the little girl perked and Steve made a face.

"I-it sounds a little up, old doesn't it? I mean its...its not bad but..." Steve tightened his grip briefly on the little girl as the boat rocked dangerously. 

Steve slowly pronounced. "Stella..." Looking down at the girl he smiled. "Hello Stella." The tiny toddler just giggled excitedly and blew a spectacular spit bubble which was promptly popped during Steve's scooping her into his arms.

"Is it not a Midgardian custom for your children to have more than one name? Perhaps it just feels..." Loki trailed off.

"Do you have a better idea?" Bruce arched an eyebrow as he lowered his map and carefully gripped the handle used to steer the boat...outboard motors were somewhat challenging to maneuver and he took a deep breath, and it took him a bit to get the boat started, the roar startling the yet unnamed toddler and she quickly pressed closer to Captain America, twisting her little hand in the fabric of his shirt and clinging for dear life.

"Stella Farra." Loki raised his voice a bit over the sound of the motor. 

"That...doesn't sound..." Steve shut up quickly at the glare shot his way and he just narrowed his eyes at Loki. 

It was going to be a long ride.


End file.
